The Courtroom

Chapter 5:

Greyson’s pov

I handed her the paper for her to sign. She stared at it, still contemplating, her eyes flickering from one line to the other as she bit her lips.

“If you do not——“

“I’ll sign it. Pen,” she said, beckoning to me and when I arched a brow at her, she went for my bag. But I held up my hand and offered her the pen.

“I’ll do it, this place is shit hell.” The pen scribbled across the paper, two places where her signature was needed. She lifted her head, “any other thing?”

“Yes.” I retrieved the paper from my bag. “It gives me the right to be your attorney.”

She tentatively peeked at the marriage contract form then the legal paper, then with a sigh she muttered, “well, you gotta get what you get, hmm?” Then signed as well.

“So what now?”

“I’ll motion for an emergency bail hearing.”

“I don’t know what that is,” she mumbled.

“You’ll know in due time. Give me a moment.” I said, already dialing my secretary’s number as I stepped. If we were to get in touch with a judge now, I would have to hurry.

“File an emergency bail hearing immediately to the court for Sienna Adams. I want to get her out on bail before the end of today.”

“On it,” he said over the phone

Given how tight our schedules usually were, we memorized some of the judge’ calendar, the cases they had and who was available right now. The only person was Judge Coleman, a very strict judge who had an unmovable heart like a mountain.

“There’s one problem, the only person free is Judge Coleman, Grey.”

“I know. we’ll take her anyway.” And there had never been a record that she granted bail for this sort of incident. But I’d like to end that streak and I had just the thing to do it.

I walked back inside to my client, Sienna, she looked physically sick. Pale skin, dry lips and hooded eyes I presumed from lack of sleep and shoulders she was merely holding up.

The cop from earlier walked in after a while. “What is it now Mr. Greyson?” From that tone anyone could tell she didn’t like me being here any more than I did.

“I filed for an emergency bail hearing.”

“I heard.” She walked over to Sienna and stood behind her, the action caused Sienna to flinch, though she kept her hand clasped.

“You think you are really something. She killed her boyfriend and even admitted to it.”

“I didn’t acknowledge, I owned up to being at his place, trashing his apartment but I didn’t kill him.”

“Miss Straw, I was present at the of her arrest, and not even the most basic procedure was followed. Her Miranda rights weren’t read——how do you explain that.” I knew what the police did. With many case stock piling, they easily just swept the case that could cause them a hassle under the mat, taking the faster route out. That was why they didn’t bother to do more digging with a clear culprit with motive seen.

“Too bad she isn’t leaving until a judge approves,” The cop said with crossed arms, eyes inspecting me, almost gloating.

Just then my phone beeped with a message from Steven, my secretary. Saying that she approved of the bail hearing.

A call came for her and the permission for the hearing was granted.

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.

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The court room was charged with tension. The cold gripping and electrifying ones that reminded me of my previous case with her. I couldn’t help but breathe in the room. It had been so long since I was here.

Well I must admit, I missed being in a real court room with a prosecutor out for my throat, as always. The thought made me chuckle and I heard, “is anything funny, Mr. Grey?” Her refined, sharp and old voice questioned.

“My apologies, your honor.” I gave a slight tilt of my head.

“Miss. Sienna Adams you are charged with the murder of Jace Wright how do you plead?”

“Not guilty, your honor,” I answered for her.

She lifted her brows then called us forward.

“Greyson,” Shirley, the prosecutor in this case, greeted as we made our way to the front.

“Shirley,” I gave a curt nod as well. She was a worthy opponent, but I just knew she had little information about my client to bombard with questions just yet.

“Mr. Grey, you like pulling last-minute strings. I was on my way to my granddaughter’s graduation. But guess who held me back?”

“My apologies, your honor, my client was unjustly locked up and that’s not good for her mother’s health who’s in the hospital.”

Shirley rolled her eyes and faced the judge. “Your honor, the client has been locked up for the death of her boyfriend. She’d confessed herself to going to his house after the heartbreaking message of her mother's sickness and thrashed the apartment then punched the victim in the face that killed him.” Just like Shirley, as I remembered. She was all about big statements.

She walked to the centre of the courtroom and face my client, “there were bloodstains all over the ground and the apartment was a mess.”

“Furthmore your honor, she is a stripper at a club, has she not for once cheated on him as well——“

“Objection my lord, speculations!” I snapped, stepping forward.

“Watch your tone in my courtroom, Mr. Grey,” Judge Coleman said coldly then glared at Shirley, “you will present fact, Miss Shirley, not moral opinions.”

“My apologies, your honor. I’ll rephrase,” Shirley gave a nod before facing Sienna, “The victim’s girlfriend, who is the accused, is a waitress at a bar, a stripper at night.” She faced my client, “I’m sure you can understand my confusion about her anger with her ex cheating when she has to entertain works that allow men to make sexual advances towards her, not to add be surrounded by them all the time.”

“Nobody touched me,” Sienna whispered to me, clutching my hand but I held her. There was anger in her voice as well as humiliation.

“I understand.” I touched her then looked back to Shirley who was still making her points.

“When we arrived at the scene of the incident, there were blood splashed on the wall. Thrashed apartment. Now if she claimed to have only punched him how do you explain the blood on the wall. She is violent and impulsive and such person shouldn’t be allowed around innocent citizens as she proves harmful to others. That is all your honor.” Her heels clicked as she walked back to her spot.

The judge looked at me and I approached to take my place.

“Your honor, my client had had the worst day of her life, her mother was sick with a bill she couldn't pay, her ex called her. A cheating one then stomped over to his place and thrashed the apartment as she said, punched him as per her testimony then left. She went to the club and later in the morning the victim was dead. Now the body wasn’t found but he was presumed dead which was illogical given the time frame to declare one dead.” I

“We’d established the apartment was thrashed but your honor,” I turned and faced my client. “It is obvious that my client is rash and impulsive but even with that she doesn’t have a criminal record. She works in a bar and feeds her family. A simple life. Her mother is currently sick. She is just a simple citizen that happened to be caught up in a spectacle. Does her working in a bar suddenly make her a threat to other citizens? No. Because a person work doesn’t determine who a person is. Just because she served in a bar doesn’t mean she poses harm to anyone. She was simply doing her best to survive rather than steal, sell drugs and among others.”

I paused and let the judge consider my words before I continued. “Locked up with no major evidence, that’s one thing, but arrested without her right being read to her, that’s another thing.”

Mrs. Coleman’s eyes flickered with a flash of anger, then she faced Sienna, “your rights weren’t read to you?”

Sienna stood up and nodded, “yes, your honor.”

The judge looked at Shirley who cleared her throat. “I wasn’t aware of that, your honor.”

“Who was the police on duty that placed the arrest,” the judges asked the police officers in the room with us.

“Paul, Jessica and Jaxon.” The cops answered.

“I want to see them in my courtroom and require the first thing they were taught before placing citizens under arrest.”

“As for you, Mr. Grey, don’t pull this again.”

Shirley looked away, jaw clenched hard. She hated the slightest mishap in her case and the cops had done that.

Judge Coleman stared at us from the brim of her glasses, then tapped her gavel once, “Bail is granted at $50,000. Defendant is to remain in the city, surrender her passport and wear an ankle monitor.”

After the hearing we stepped outside. The ankle monitor was fastened against Sienna’s ankle.

“Make sure to present all your evidence because I’ve got my team up and digging,” Shirley said before walking away with a smile. She knew something.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” I turned to Sienna and asked with caution.

“No, nothing,” she replied but her eyes told me a different thing. A flicker or fear or perhaps guilt. I couldn’t quite decipher it. But she wasn’t coming out about it.

So I said, “Very well, brace yourself because Shirley likes to play dirty, she’ll dig up dirt from your relationship with him, something that happened a long time ago to make you look guilty. Now if there’s anything I should know now will be the perfect time to tell me.”

Again she replied, “Nothing.”